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Best and worst from Michigan's win over Nebraska

clayton-sayfieby: Clayton Sayfie10/01/23CSayf23
Kalel Mullings
(Photo by Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports)

LINCOLN, Neb. — Michigan Wolverines football demolished Nebraska, 45-7, at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon. Here are the best and worst from the game.

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Best catch

It couldn’t be seen from the view on television, but Michigan junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy had senior wideout Roman Wilson wide open over the middle on the Wolverines’ first possession, but he didn’t see him until two defenders were converging. Still, McCarthy gave Wilson, his favorite target, a chance, and the wideout came down with a ridiculous catch against Nebraska safety Isaac Gifford‘s helmet.

McCarthy said he didn’t think Wilson came down with it until he saw his teammates celebrating. Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who also didn’t have the full view, said the coaches in the press box were full of excitement watching the replays.

Wilson is off to a fantastic start to the season, with 8 of his 19 receptions being touchdowns. He had 8 career touchdowns entering the season and has matched that total already, after scoring twice Saturday.

Michigan offense at its best

The Michigan offense is at its best when McCarthy is making plays with his legs, whether that’s in the designed run game, scrambling for yardage or extending plays as an out-of-the-pocket passer. It just makes this offense that much more dynamic, and it was on full display Saturday. He scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown run and bought time on his second touchdown toss to Wilson, spinning back to his left and rolling out and firing a beautiful pass to the back of the end zone.

His stat line — 12-for-16 passing for 156 yards and 2 TDs — won’t show it, but McCarthy was about as good as he could’ve been Saturday.

The right five?

Michigan may have found its best five on the offensive line, starting graduate LaDarius Henderson at left tackle and moving graduate Karsen Barnhart from that position to right tackle. Senior Myles Hinton started the first four games at right tackle but did not play Saturday. Hinton was listed as questionable and has been playing hurt, so perhaps that was the reason why he didn’t see the field, but the Michigan offensive line was very strong against the Cornhuskers.

Michigan got great movement in the run game, which racked up 249 yards and 3 touchdowns on 51 carries, only allowed 1 tackle for loss (Henderson appeared responsible, though) and didn’t give up a sack. The Wolverines made a statement, and made some doubters believe that they were in fact “close” to breaking out.

Big man pick

Michigan sophomore defensive tackle Kenneth Grant saw the ball in the air after senior EDGE Braiden McGregor tipped a Heinrich Haarberg pass on the second Nebraska offensive play of the game and knew what he had to do. The Wolverines have stressed “ball disruption” and run a tip drill in practice. Grant went up, grabbed it and didn’t let go, completing the big-man interception. He’s the second Michigan defensive lineman to have a pick this season, joining senior Kris Jenkins, and the biggest to do so, maybe in U-M history. The Wolverines cashed in with a touchdown on their next possession to go up 14-0 early.

No. 1?

Nebraska ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game entering Saturday. Given the small sample size and weak schedule, it was hard to imagine that the Cornhuskers were actually the best run-stopping outfit in the sport — yes, numbers do lie — but that’s what the stats said.

It took less than 8 minutes of game time for Michigan to put up 47 rushing yards, more than the Cornhuskers had allowed on average per full game this season entering Saturday (46.3).

The Wolverines totaled a season-high 249 rushing yards with 3 touchdowns on 51 carries. That rushing-yard total is the most Michigan has posted in a game since also scoring 45 points to Ohio State’s 23 last November.

Stonewalled

Nebraska actually got something going on its second drive, after throwing the aforementioned interception, marching 63 yards in nine plays. But on that ninth down, Haarberg ran a quarterback sneak from the shotgun, building up a head of steam but getting stonewalled on fourth-and-1 to turn the ball over on downs.

The Michigan defensive line stood tall on that individual play, and that was really a big story in the game at large. The Cornhuskers averaged 234.8 rushing yards per game before Saturday and were held to only 106 on 21 carries against the Maize and Blue.

Michigan had 4 sacks in the pass game, as well.

Quietest 87,000

The photo in the below tweet was taken just before halftime, with Michigan leading 28-0. The Wolverines take a lot of satisfaction in sucking the life out of a previously-juiced-up opposing crowd in supposedly hostile road environments. Some of the missing seats in the photo were filled by fans who came back from the concessions or restrooms at halftime, but a lot weren’t. It was a hot day in Lincoln, with an opening kickoff temperature of 93 degrees, and Nebraska fans were not about to brave it to watch their team get beaten into submission.

Most depth

Michigan played four different quarterbacks. Three of them completed 16 passes to 10 receivers. Nine Michigan players had at least 1 rush. Twenty players had at least 1 tackle.

Michigan traveled 74 players to Nebraska, and most made contributions.

Close but no cigar

Nebraska hasn’t been shut out since 1996. It hasn’t been held scoreless at home since 1968. Those facts would’ve made it even more satisfying if Michigan could have gotten it done Saturday, but the Wolverines’ backups allowed a late score for the third time this season when the opponent had zero points, with Nebraska’s Josh Fleeks running 74 yards for a touchdown. Close, but no cigar.

Bussin’ Bowl champs

Michigan is now 2-0 when playing Nebraska for the Bussin’ Bowl trophy, which was created by Taylor Lewan, Will Compton and their podcast, ‘Bussin’ With The Boys.’ The Wolverines celebrated with the bus on the field after the win.